Nothing is permanent in the world of IT. Technologies constantly change and swiftly replace outdated ones. Since 1995, when Microsoft's new browser, Internet Explorer (IE) was released, it had grown into the most widely used web browser. For nearly 17 years, the product dominated the market, attaining a peak of approximately 95% of internet users in 2002 and 2003.

When Apple's Safari browser was launched as a competitor, it began chipping away at IE's market share. In September 2008, Google released its Chrome browser, decreasing IE's strength to only half of the Internet's users. Chrome was created as part of large open source project called Chromium. In only four years, it become the most widely used browser in World Wide Web. Statistics show that, in April 2012, Google Chrome was peaking during weekends, indicating home computer INDIAge. In the corporate world, during 9am - 5pm work hours, most users still prefer IE. Then, during the three month period from May - June 2012, the most trusted independent statistics reveal that 32% of Internet users were using Chrome, compared to Internet Explorer's 31%.

What does that mean for web design and development? Experts agree that eventually, the process will be faster and more flexible. At present, a significant amount of time and energy is devoted to cross-browser optimization. A large number of people continue to use old versions of IE and other browsers. Even a year of two ago, many Web users still were using IE6, which was released a full ten years ago!

We therefore recommend that our customers regularly update their browsers. No matter which brands they prefer, using the most up-to-date technology causes the Web to grow more rapidly, as Web sites deliver smoother functionality and user experiences.

by Sergey Samusenko